“How can I persuade a person to live by faith and not by works if I have to juggle my schedule constantly to make everything fit into place.”

I’ve recently begun a discipline of slowing down and absorbing more of my world. I’ve noticed that I hurry through things unnecessarily and as a result am not experiencing life as much as I should. I think this is an important discipline for a pastor to experience for a couple reasons. First, the sermon of our lives is as important as the sermon in the pulpit. We all need to slow down, and one way for it to begin is by pastoral example. But second, the world around us is the parchment upon which our sermons are written. In order to touch people, we need to be in touch ourselves. When we hurry through life, we miss details and meaning that helps to color and contextualize the message of the gospel.

A simple practice that has become a symbol of my decision to slow down has been the signing of checks and credit card receipts. I remember in high school taking the time while I should have been listening to my teachers practicing my signature to develop the swoops and curves that would make it my own. As time has gone on, it has become a hurried sloppy mess. I read somewhere that a sloppy signature is easiest to forge. So I decided that where I was going to begin slowing down was in the signing of my name. Now whenever I sign a check, it is an opportunity to craft my signature rather then hurry through it so I can get on to the next thing I’m going to hurry through. The end result has been attention to other details of life where I am slowing down and absorbing more of the world around me. It has served me well, and could for you as well.

This time around, I scribbled notes on a notecard.  Picked 2 points.  And went straight to the word processor. 

The important lesson is that I think we need to change up how we prepare to keep things fresh.  Same old preparation and same old delivery results in the same old results.  Constantly trying new things and changing it up results in a fresh sermon.